1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to lighting systems, and more particularly to a lighting system with controlled image capture and illumination capabilities.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are many different types of lighting systems for enhancing or altering the appearance of real objects. Among the simplest form of such systems are those commonly used in art galleries to showcase still art work such as, for example, paintings, photographs, sculptures, etc. These systems typically include one or more lamps that continuously illuminate a subject from one or more fixed positions.
Although traditional fixed position lighting systems can enhance visibility and appearance to some degree, their capabilities are substantially limited by their inherent simplicity. For example, such systems typically illuminate an entire subject uniformly with a single specific lighting condition (e.g., intensity, color, etc.), thus making it unlikely to achieve lighting conditions that are optimal for enhancing the overall appearance of a subject. This is because a single subject typically has many different textures and/or colors that vary greatly and the optimal lighting conditions for one specific texture and/or color are not necessarily the optimal conditions for another. As another limitation, it is difficult to selectively isolate and enhance the appearance of specific details (e.g., certain colors, textures, patterns, etc.) on a subject without also illuminating adjacent details that are not of particular interest.
What is needed, therefore, is a lighting system that can employ multiple different lighting conditions simultaneously. What is also needed is a lighting system that can selectively enhance the appearance of isolated details of a subject. What is also needed is a lighting system that can render visible features of a subject that are not visible under normal lighting conditions.